Particulate material circulating means

ABSTRACT

An air-driven particulate material circulating means comprising a particulate material container having an air conduit extending thereinto. Blower means is provided in communication with the air conduit for forcing air therethrough outwardly through the orifice into the particulate material. A material discharge conduit has its intake end in communication with the interior of the container. The intake end of the discharge conduit is aligned with but spaced from the orifice so that the material being blown by the air passing outwardly through the orifice will be directed into the intake end of the discharge conduit. A valve means is provided for controlling the flow of material into the discharge tube. The discharge end of the discharge conduit may be either in communication with the interior of the container to provide recirculation of the material or it may be placed in communication with a container or receptacle remote of the material container to permit the conveying of the material. Means is also disclosed for conveying or transferring the material to locations other than the container if desired.

United States Patent [191 McIntire et al.

[4 1 Oct.14, 1975 PARTICULATE MATERIAL CIRCULATING MEANS [76] Inventors: Daryl C. Mclntire, Seymour; Oran Clark, Corydon, both of Iowa 22 rFiled: Feb. 4, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 439,552

[52] US. Cl. 34/102; 34/57 A; 432/58 [51] Int. Cl. F26B 25/00 [58] Field of Search 34/10, 57 A, 57 R, 102,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,641,063 6/1953 Greiman 34/102 2,745,193 5/1956 Ladd et a1 34/102 2,813,351 11/1957 Godel 34/57 A 3,106,385 10/1963 Arthur et al. 34/102 3,241,520 3/1966 Wurster et a1. 34/57 A 3,31 1,992 4/1967 Seley 34/102 3,373,504 3/1968 Mclntire et a1. 34/57 A Primary ExaminerKenneth W. Sprague Assistant ExaminerJames C. Yeung Attorney, Agent, or FirmZarley, McKee, Thomte & Voorhees 5 7 ABSTRACT An air-driven particulate material circulating means comprising a particulate material container having an air conduit extending thereinto. Blower means is provided in communication with the air conduit for forcing air therethrough outwardly through the orifice into the particulate material. A material discharge conduit has its intake end in communication with the interior of the container. The intake end of the discharge conduit is aligned with but spaced from the orifice so that the material being blown by the air passing outwardly through the orifice will be directed into the intake end of the dischargeconduit. A valve means is provided for controlling the flow of material into the discharge tube. The discharge end of the discharge conduit may be either in communication with the interior of the container to provide recirculation of the material or it may be placed in communication with a container 'or receptacle remote of the material container to permit the conveying of the material. Means is also disclosed for conveying or transferring the material to locations other than the container if desired.

6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Oct. 14, 1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,911,594

74 zg'i PARTICULATE MATERIAL CIRCULATIN MEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Grain stored within a storage bin must be circulated at times to dry the grain and to prevent hot spots" from building up therein. Prior to the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,373,504, the existing grain circulating means were undesirable for several reasons: (1) they did not uniformly circulate the grain within the storage bin, (2) they utilized expensive equipment, and (3) they were expensive to operate. Applicants previouslyinvention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,373,504 represented a significant advance in the art and the instant invention represents a distinct improvement over applicants earlier device.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide an air-driven particulate material circulating means.

A further object of the invention is to provide an airdriven grain circulating means.

A further object of the invention is to provide an airdriven grain circulating means which uniformly circulatesthegrain within the storage bin.

A further object of the invention is to provide an airdriven grain circulating means which is economical to operate.

A further object of the invention is to provide an airdriven grain circulating means having a valve means associated therewith for controlling the flow of grain.

A further object of the invention is to provide an airdriven grain circulating means which may be used to .circulate the grain or to convey the grain to a location remote from the storage bin.

A further object of the invention is to provide an airdriven grain circulating means which uniformly dries the grain.

A further object of the invention is to provide an airdriven grain circulating means which prevents hot spots from building up within the storage bin.

A further object of the invention is to provide an airdriven grain circulating means which may be easily installed into existing storage bins.

A further object of the invention is to provide an airdriven grain circulating means which is durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS This invention consists in the construction, arrangements and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out 'in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through a storage bin having the grain circulating means of this invention mounted therein:

FIG. 2 is a partial side view of the grain spreading ele- -ment located on the upper end of the discharge tube:

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view illustrating the relationship of the air discharge conduit and the material discharge tube: 1

FIG. 4 is a top view of the grain spreading element as seen on lines 4 4 of FIG. 2:

FIG. 5 is a top view of the valve element as seen on lines 5 5 of FIG. 3:

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 except that an alternate form of the circulating means is illustrated:

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of a horizontal unit for conveying particulate material; and

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of a vertical unit for conveying particulate material.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1, the numeral 10 refers generally to a grain or particulate material storage bin including a circular side wall 12, roof l4, hatch l6, and floor 18 which is positioned above the supporting surface 20. A coneshaped hopper or pit 22 is provided in the central portion of the floor 18 so that the grain will pass downwardly thereinto as illustrated in the drawings.

The numeral 24 refers to an air conduit which is in communication with a conventional air blower means 26 adapted to force air through the conduit 24 and outwardly through the orifice 28 provided on the inner end of the conduit 24. If desired, an electrical heater or the like 30 can be placed on the air conduit 24 upstream of the orifice 28 to create a drying effect on the grain as it is being recirculated. Thus, it might be possible to eliminate the conventional hot air system ordinarily required in drying bins, and affect drying through the recirculation process.

As seen in FIG. 3, the inner end of conduit 24 is vertically disposed and that an orifice 28 is positioned or in communication with the lower interior of the hopper 22. The numeral 32 refers to a vertically disposed material discharge tube which is rigidly supported by any convenient means. The numeral 34 refers to an optional shroud which extends around the lower portion of the tube 32 as depicted in the drawings and which is supported by braces 36. Shroud 34 urges the flow of material towards the outside of the container.

The grain spreading element 38 is rotatably mounted on the upper end of the tube 32 by roller bearings 40. The outer end 42 of spreader element 38 is bent with respect to the horizontal portion 44 so that grain being blown therefrom will cause the element 38 to rotate in a horizontal plane. The outer end 42 can be rotated at seam 46 to adjust the throw of the grain. If desired, a suitable connection can be made to the member 38 to discharge the grain outwardly from the bin through the hatch-way 16 if so desired.

The numeral 48 refers to a horizontally slidable valve element comprising generally valve 50 having an actuating rod 52 extending therefrom. Opening 54 and perforated opening 56 are provided on the valve 50 as seen in FIG. 5. To start the recirculation, the perforated opening 56 is placed over the orifice 28 which causes the grain above the opening 56 to boil due to the air being discharged outwardly from the orifice 28 and upwardly through the perforated opening 56. After the boiling has commended, valve 48 is moved so that the opening 54 registers with the orifice 28 which causes the grain to then be blown upwardly into the tube 32 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The grain being discharged from the grain spreading element 38 causes the grain spreading element 38 to be rotated with respect to the tube 32 so that the grain is uniformly spread throughout the interior of the storage bin.

With respect to FIG. 6, the numeral 58 refers to a storage bin comprising a circular side wall 60, roof 62 and floor 64 which is positioned above the supporting surface 66. A cone-shaped hopper or pit 68 is provided in the central portion of the floor 64 for receiving the grain or particulate material therein. Air conduit 70, which is in communication with a conventional air blower means 26 and optional heater 30, has its orifice 72 in communication with the lower interior of the hopper 68 as seen in FIG. 7.

The intake end 74 of material discharge conduit 76 is also in communication with the lower interior of the hopper 68 as illustrated in FIG. 6 so as to receive the grain being blown by the air passing outwardly from the orifice 72. Slide 78 is provided to control the flow of grain. It is possible to close the bottom of the cone hopper 68 with the slide 78 so that the bottom of the hopper may be substantially purged of grain. The discharge conduit 76 extends upwardly along side the storage bin 58 and extends downwardly through the central portion of the roof as seen in FIG. 6. Grain spreading element 50 is rotatably mounted on the lower end of the discharge conduit 76 to spread the grain in an identical fashion with the grain spreading element 38 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 5. Discharge conduit 76 includes a conduit portion 76a which may be moved to an alternate position to that shown in FIG. 6 to discharge the grain from the bin or to move the grain to another bin. Thus, actuation of the blower 26 causes the material within the hopper 68 to be blown into the discharge conduit 76 as depicted in FIG. 6. The slide 78 would initially be closed when the air blower 26 is actuated with the slide 78 then being progressively opened so that the material will freely pass into the interior of the conduit 76.

FIG. 7 illustrates a means for conveying or transferring material to locations remote from the hopper as seen in FIG. 7. The structure seen in FIG. 7 is substantially identical to that seen in FIG. 6 except that the hopper 68 is supported by a plurality of legs L. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 is supported by a plurality of legs L. The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 is substantially identical to that described in FIG. 1 except that the unit may be used for conveying or transferring material to a location remote from the hopper 22' which is supported by a plurality of legs L. Braces B are secured to the hopper and have a collar mounted at the upper end thereof which embraces the vertically disposed tube 32'. The operation of the embodiments seen in FIGS. 7 and 8 are identical to that described in FIGS. 1 and 6 respectively but are designed to convey or transfer material to locations other than the bin.

While the embodiments disclosed herein are particularly well-suited for the circulation of grain within a storage bin, it should be noted that the apparatus may be used for simply conveying material from one location to another location. Thus, it can be seen that the apparatus accomplishes at least all of its stated objectives.

We claim:

1. A means for conveying particulate material comprising,

a hopper means for receiving particulate material and having an open upper end and a centrally disposed lower end,

a substantially vertically disposed material discharge conduit means having its intake end in communication with said hopper means and being centrally disposed with respect thereto,

an air conduit having its discharge end in communication with said centrally disposed lower end of said hopper means, said air conduit discharge end being spaced from the intake end of said discharge conduit means and being vertically aligned therewith so as to direct air upwardly thereinto,

blower means in communication with said air conduit so that air will be forced outwardly from said air conduit discharge end,

a valve means horizontally movably mounted in said hopper means between said discharge end of said air conduit and said intake end of said material discharge conduit means to permit the selective supply of material to said intake end of said material discharge conduit means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said valve means comprises a flat plate means having a plurality of perforations formed therein.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said valve means comprises a flat plate means having a first opening formed therein and a plurality of smaller second openings formed therein spaced from said first opening.

4. A means for conveying particulate material comprising,

a hopper means receiving particulate material, a material discharge conduit means having its intake end in communication with said hopper means,

an air conduit having its discharge end in communication with said hopper means, said air conduit discharge end being spaced from the intake end of said discharge conduit means and being aligned therewith so as to direct air thereinto,

blower means in communication with said air conduit so that air will be forced outwardly from said air conduit discharge end,

said hopper means having an open upper end and a lower end,

said material discharge conduit means and said air conduit being vertically disposed and vertically spaced below the said open upper end of said hopper means,

and a valve means horizontally movably mounted relative to said hopper means to permit the selective supply of material in said hopper means to said intake end of said material discharge conduit means.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein an air heater means is in communication with said air conduit.

6. A means for conveying particulate material com-' prising,

a hopper means for receiving particulate material and having an open upper end and a centrally disposed lower end,

a substantially vertically disposed material discharge conduit means having its intake end in communication with said hopper means and being centrally disposed with respect thereto,

an air conduit having its dischaarge end in communication with said centrally disposed lower end of said hopper means, said air conduit discharge end being spaced from the intake end of said discharge conduit means and being vertically aligned therewith so as to direct air upwardly thereinto,

blower means in communication with said air conduit so that air will be forced outwardly from said air conduit discharge end,

extending laterally therefrom, said horizontally disposed portion disposed at an angle with respect thereto so that material and air being discharged therefrom will cause said material spreader apparatus to rotate about said discharge conduit to spread the material within said storage container. 

1. A means for conveying particulate material comprising, a hopper means for receiving particulate material and having an open upper end and a centrally disposed lower end, a substantially vertically disposed material discharge conduit means having its intake end in communication with said hopper means and being centrally disposed with respect thereto, an air conduit having its discharge end in communication with said centrally disposed lower end of said hopper means, said air conduit discharge end being spaced from the intake end of said discharge conduit means and being vertically aligned therewith so as to direct air upwardlY thereinto, blower means in communication with said air conduit so that air will be forced outwardly from said air conduit discharge end, a valve means horizontally movably mounted in said hopper means between said discharge end of said air conduit and said intake end of said material discharge conduit means to permit the selective supply of material to said intake end of said material discharge conduit means.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said valve means comprises a flat plate means having a plurality of perforations formed therein.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said valve means comprises a flat plate means having a first opening formed therein and a plurality of smaller second openings formed therein spaced from said first opening.
 4. A means for conveying particulate material comprising, a hopper means receiving particulate material, a material discharge conduit means having its intake end in communication with said hopper means, an air conduit having its discharge end in communication with said hopper means, said air conduit discharge end being spaced from the intake end of said discharge conduit means and being aligned therewith so as to direct air thereinto, blower means in communication with said air conduit so that air will be forced outwardly from said air conduit discharge end, said hopper means having an open upper end and a lower end, said material discharge conduit means and said air conduit being vertically disposed and vertically spaced below the said open upper end of said hopper means, and a valve means horizontally movably mounted relative to said hopper means to permit the selective supply of material in said hopper means to said intake end of said material discharge conduit means.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein an air heater means is in communication with said air conduit.
 6. A means for conveying particulate material comprising, a hopper means for receiving particulate material and having an open upper end and a centrally disposed lower end, a substantially vertically disposed material discharge conduit means having its intake end in communication with said hopper means and being centrally disposed with respect thereto, an air conduit having its dischaarge end in communication with said centrally disposed lower end of said hopper means, said air conduit discharge end being spaced from the intake end of said discharge conduit means and being vertically aligned therewith so as to direct air upwardly thereinto, blower means in communication with said air conduit so that air will be forced outwardly from said air conduit discharge end, said hopper means being mounted in the floor area of a storage container, said material discharge conduit means having a discharge end in communication with said storage container in the upper end thereof, a material spreader apparatus rotatably mounted on the upper end of said material discharge conduit means and having a horizontally disposed portion extending laterally therefrom, said horizontally disposed portion disposed at an angle with respect thereto so that material and air being discharged therefrom will cause said material spreader apparatus to rotate about said discharge conduit to spread the material within said storage container. 